FREEDOM OFFERED--WITH EXILE

Compiled by Richard PhillipsCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Nigeria's prominent political prisoner, Moshood Abiola, has been offered freedom--but only if he leaves Nigeria, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Abiola has been jailed since July 1994, when he defied the government by declaring himself president after an election he probably won in June 1993. The military government refused to accept the election results.

Military leader Gen. Sani Abacha then ordered Abiola's arrest for alleged treason, a death penalty case. It hasn't yet come to trial, and human rights groups across the world have pressed Abacha to free Abiola, a wealthy businessman before his imprisonment.